This invention relates generally to microdensitometers and, more particularly, to a unique light-scattering disc collector member (and assembly) which has many applications, including: use as a constituent of a sensor optics assembly of a microdensitometer; and, more importantly, use as a replacement of pertinent structural members of a sensor optics assembly of a classical microdensitometer, whereby the classical microdensitometer is converted to a linear microdensitometer.
As will be shown later, a classical microdensitometer is, essentially, two opposing microscopes: one to irradiate the target or object sample (i.e., "source optics"); and, the other to sample target (or object sample) radiance (i.e., "sensor optics") as a function of position.
It is well known in the microdensitometer art that the use of a classical microdensitometer inherently results in significantly misleading information at the output end of the classical microdensitometer system, because of coherent diffraction at the site of the target (or object sample), coupled with the imaging function of the sensor optics. Unfortunately, there is little that can be done about the increasingly felt effects of coherence as one moves toward greater system resolution, as long as a classical microdensitometer is used.
Therefore, what is needed in the art, and is not presently available, is (for reasons that will be explained later herein) a means for (and/or a method of) converting a classical microdensitometer to a linear (mode) microdensitometer, easily and economically.
My invention fulfills this existing need and, thereby, constitutes a significant advance in the state-of-the-art.